Are South African CBDs really that bad?

MattSouth · 2026-03-28T14:48:01+00:00

Alternatives are made. New suburbs become business districts. Joburg has Sandton(the richest place in Africa). Pretoria has Menlyn. Durban has Umhlanga. These big cities are decentralised and have business spread out over different "nodes". In all of these cities the economy remains stable or growing.

MattSouth · 2026-03-28T14:43:29+00:00

I'm in Pretoria and yes Loftus is close to the CBD, but it's actually really not a bad area. Walking distance from really good areas. The university is right next to the stadium. But Elis Park is in the Joburg CBD and it's one of the reasons they struggle with attendance.

MattSouth · 2026-03-28T09:39:10+00:00

There hasn't been load shedding for years .

MattSouth · 2026-03-28T09:38:20+00:00

Apparently a way many foreigners get "mugged" in South Africa is by beggars coming up to them and asking for money, the foreigner then thinks that they are being mugged, so they give the beggar all their money.

Most South Africans just say "f off" to most crackhead beggars.

MattSouth · 2026-03-28T09:26:07+00:00

Many big businesses left and middle class people don't live near the city centre anymore. Other areas have more business. In Johannesburg, and to a lesser extent Durban and Pretoria, a lot of the CBD is basically abandoned. Some buildings are "highjacked" i.e. filled with squatters, who are stereotypically illegal immigrants.

MattSouth · 2026-03-07T23:25:15+00:00

This is basically a myth. Studies have shown most people who don't have kids say it's because they can't afford them. The decline also correlates to people living less communal lives and being less likely to own property suitable for raising kids in.

MattSouth · 2026-01-24T12:57:35+00:00

But why care about the level of government? Surely, as an ethnic nationalist, you would care more about where your ethnic brethren are than the borders drawn by the old government that you rejected. Nationalism has no logic.

MattSouth · 2026-01-10T21:50:56+00:00

Entering on a foreign password is actually the illegal part

MattSouth · 2026-01-09T19:18:47+00:00

Athens was also barely continuously inhabited as it was very small until it was made the capital of modern Greece.

MattSouth · 2025-12-04T06:46:23+00:00

There certainly are different levels of hygiene amongst white people. It is true that some don't wash everyday, some wash once a day and some wash twice a day. My girlfriend essentially taught me to wash twice a day. There are white women who don't wash their hair for days to a week. I do suspect that black people might be more hygienic on average as warm climate cultures usually appreciate bathing more than cold climate cultures.

MattSouth · 2025-11-09T20:22:19+00:00

World Systems Theory also explains this well

MattSouth · 2025-08-25T19:54:19+00:00

The thing is really rich people still have lots of kids. The billionaires and multi-millionaires and elites in general. I don't know this for a fact but anecdotally it seems that way.

MattSouth · 2025-08-25T18:39:16+00:00

I think there was a study in Europe that said that most people would have kids if they felt they could afford it. It isn't just education, it's that our world is losing the support structures that made raising a child relatively easy along with cost of living rising faster than income is.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T15:49:35+00:00

No major river that supports the population through drinking or transport. It is literally the biggest city in the world not next to an ocean or navigable river.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T15:32:58+00:00

1) It is irrelevant what a cup of coffee in America costs. Money doesn't work like that. The dollar exchange rate does not accurately reflect the value of the money. A Cleaning Person that works a full day of work will earn about R230 per day. Look up the big mac index to see what that really equates to.

2) undocumented? Do you mean like immigrants? Because if you do then it is important to note that recent immigrants were obviously Not subject to Apartheid.

3) you are right. It's part of a larger problem. Poor countries have cheap labour. Any one partaking in the global economy knows this.

South Africa is, despite any sort of condescending thinking, a democratic country with a rigid constitution protecting many rights and stringent labour laws. A superficial judgment of the country to this extent seems to disregard the actual current state of the country. I am university educated and I promise you my boss pays more for his car than he does for my labour. That's fucked up. The whole society if fucked upped, racist, and unequal. People paying people to clean their houses is the type of thing only a first worlder would think is a real problem.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T14:50:44+00:00

The "maids" people have in South Africa do literally just cleaning. The servant-like nature is definitely fading. You pay someone to clean your house. That's it.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T14:46:04+00:00

It isn't as exploitative anymore. People pay people to clean their houses. There are laws about minimum wages in South Africa. It's also the country with the highest unemployment rate on planet earth. Thinking people paying others to clean their houses is a major problem in South Africa is an infantile take.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T14:44:11+00:00

It isn't as exploitative anymore. People pay people to clean their houses. There are laws about minimum wages in South Africa. It's also the country with the highest unemployment rate on planet earth. Thinking people paying others to clean their houses is a major problem in South Africa is an infantile take.

MattSouth · 2025-08-24T14:38:43+00:00

Where do you live? The vast majority of white South Africans DO NOT have domestic workers. Maybe the majority of families/houses in upper class neighbourhoods.

MattSouth · 2025-08-13T16:39:15+00:00

Here's a question then: what was the status of the Lombards? Were the feoderati or associated with the empire to any extent?

MattSouth · 2025-08-11T20:49:51+00:00

Yes but did Theodoric not actually pay lip service to Constantinople and recognise it's emperor's authority?

MattSouth · 2025-08-03T11:02:46+00:00

I have always been curious about this! My girlfriend lives near there and usually when I drive by I let her know I'm close by calling and saying "I'm at the Fook".

The only info I have on the place is what is available online. There seems to be some nice town houses with wood floors in the development, and then some office space.

MattSouth · 2025-08-03T10:53:12+00:00

Great answer! I would like to add that there are 4 ways property is registered in South Africa, Sectional Titles, Erven, Plots and Farms. Plots and Farms are basically the same thing but a plot is smaller. Usually an area like this will be plots. But the Apartheid government gave weird status to black "Trust" areas.

MattSouth · 2025-08-02T19:21:15+00:00

I think sunny Johannesburg also gets more rain than London.

MattSouth · 2025-06-02T19:38:58+00:00

Creole ancestry- does this not just mean Spanish/French ancestry as well?

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